Naked Parts Research Articles

Comparative morphology of the rhinarium and upper lip in sigmodontine rodents: Refined nomenclature, intertribal variation in a phylogenetic framework, and functional inferences.

Rodents have received substantial attention in the study of olfaction. However, the rhinarium, the naked part of the nose, which plays an important role in chemical, tactile, and thermal perception, has been relatively overlooked. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the rhinarium morphology and spatially associated structures (i.e., upper lip, and philtrum) in sigmodontines, a diverse group within the Cricetidae rodents. The research covers 483 specimens representing 145 species, accounting for 74% of genera in the clade, including all 13 recognized tribes, three incertae sedis genera, and the murid representatives Mus musculus and Rattus norvegicus. The inconsistent use of terminology in describing rhinarium traits across the literature poses a challenge for comparative analyzes. To address this issue, a standardized terminology was proposed to characterize the rhinarium. A paired complex protuberance typically with epidermal ridges (i.e., rhinoglyphics), termed here the tubercle of Hill, was identified as a distinctive feature in muroid rhinaria. Comparative assessments among tribes revealed unique sets of features defining each major clade, encompassing variations in hairiness, dorsum nasi complexity, size and positioning of the tubercle of Hill, and other key attributes. Two primary rhinarium configurations were discerned: one shared by Oryzomyalia and Sigmodontini and another specific to Ichthyomyini. The former groups display a ventrally positioned rhinarium prominently featuring the tubercle of Hill and sculptured areola circularis. In contrast, Ichthyomyini exhibit a frontally directed rhinarium characterized by an enlarged dorsum nasi fused to the tubercle of Hill, resulting in a distinctive "cherry" appearance. Convergent rhinarium structures observed in fossorial species, characterized by well-developed plica alaris and hair fringes, are presumed to mitigate potential damage during digging. Conversely, semiaquatic carnivorous sigmodontines showcase an integrated apical structure in their rhinarium, facilitating enhanced somatosensory capabilities crucial for predation activities during diving expeditions.

Construction and characteristic of the media exhibitionism construct and the Media Exhibitionism Questionnaire

Abstract Introduction: Internet users often reveal online intimate details from their lives, such as pictures with naked parts of their bodies or posts about their emotional states. The first part of the article presents an attempt to create media exhibitionism construct based on psychopathological criteria from ICD-10. The second part of the article presents psychometric properties of the Media Exhibitionism Questionnaire. Material and methods: After extracting 49 items, based on the theoretical foundations of the media exhibitionism construct, the competent judges assessed the accuracy of individual items. This resulted in the selection of 20 statements. Then the revised questionnaire was sent to Facebook users asking them to fill it out and send it to other users of the portal. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was carried out by the method of main components with Varimax rotation on N=65 persons, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on N=554 persons. Results: After EFA the questionnaire consisted of 14 items and 4 factors: physical exhibitionism, exhibitionism of narcissistic traits, emotional exhibitionism, exhibitionism of histrionic traits. The four-factor solution was adopted on the basis of theoretical assumptions. The chi2 value was significant (χ2=286.01; p<0.001), which indicated discrepancies between the observed covariance matrix and the one implied by the model. Other indicators have shown a satisfactory agreement between the data and the model. Conclusions: The questionnaire has satisfactory psychometric properties (α=0.846) and can be used to predict problem behaviours on social media, as well as in counselling regarding responsible development of self-image on the Internet.

Dual-Functional Aligned and Interconnected Graphite Nanoplatelet Networks for Accelerating Solar Thermal Energy Harvesting and Storage within Phase Change Materials.

Solar thermal energy conversion and storage within phase change materials (PCMs) can overcome solar radiation intermittency to enable continuous operation of many heating-related processes. However, the energy-harvesting performance of current storage systems is always limited by low efficiencies in either solar thermal energy conversion or thermal transport within PCMs. Although PCM-based nanocomposites can address one or both of these issues, achieving high-performance composites with simultaneously enhanced photothermal performance and thermal transport capacity remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate that dual-functional aligned and interconnected graphite nanoplatelet networks (AIGNNs) yield the synergistic enhancement of interfacial photothermal conversion and thermal transport within PCMs to accelerate the solar thermal energy harvesting and storage. The AIGNNs include the naked part as the three-dimensional optical absorber and the incorporated part as thermally conductive pathways within PCMs. First, a phase change composite composed of the AIGNNs and the solid-solid PCM of polyhydric alcohol is synthesized using a facile three-step method, and shows 400% thermal conductivity enhancement for per 1 wt % graphite loading compared to pristine PCMs. After the elaborate surface treatment, a small part of the graphite networks is in situ exposed as the 3D optical absorber to boost the surface full-spectrum sunlight absorptivity up to 95%. This dual function design takes full advantage of the integrated AIGNNs in terms of both photothermal conversion and thermal transport capacities, superior to the traditional coating-enhanced photothermal conversion. This work offers a promising route to accelerating solar thermal energy harvesting and storage within PCMs.

<i>In Situ</i> Performance Assessment of a Bio-Sourced Insulation Material from an Inverse Analysis of Measurements on a Demonstrator Building

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of bio-sourced material based on cereal straw for an efficient insulation. Decreasing significantly energy consumption of buildings requires not only the very best insulation material for heat loss reduction through the wall but also the reduction of air permeability which can affect automatically the comfort in the building. This is why, propose an insulation material with low thermal conductivity remains insufficient and the evaluation of the performance of the new insulation material in situ in real conditions is an essential step. The experimental building ( PROMETHE demonstrator) is set up with wood frame and multilayered walls composed with cinder blocks and insulation bio-composite based on cereal straw in order to simulate the thermal rehabilitation conditions according the External thermal insulation principle. Each façade is divided in four part with three different insulation bio-composites and naked part for comparison reasons. Hygrothermal sensors are used both inside and outside of the demonstrator, and heat-flux sensor is placed at the cinder blocks biocomposite interface. These in situ measurements are used to compare the efficiency of three bi-sourced materials and for the modeling the hygrothermal behavior of the multilayer wall by using the set of identified parameters in laboratory.

Design and Implementation of a Face Location and Five Sense Organs Marking Software

Face recognition technology is a significant branch of the study of artificial intelligence, the recognition precision is easily affected by facial expressions, skin colors, beam angles in the images and apparels. This essay tests human face images in the format of 24 BMP and realizes face location and mark of five sense organs. Firstly, color space model is adopted to set up skin color distribution model to segment skin regions; secondly, the obtained regions are judged and screened preliminarily, and optimized based on the characteristics of segmented regions with region optimization algorithm of depth-width ratio, rejecting the region with the similar color of the skin caused by some disturbing factors and other naked parts of the body, through which the rough region of human face could be attained and face location could be realized; finally, five organs of the obtained face region is located with the method of grey level region in combination with searching rectangle.

A case of leucism in the burrowing owl Athene cunicularia (Aves: Strigiformes) with confirmation of species identity using cytogenetic analysis

Leucism is an inherited disorder, characterized by the lack of pigments in part or all of the body, normal coloration of the eyes and, in birds, in naked parts such as the bill and legs. This kind of disorder is sometimes erroneously designated as albinism or partial albinism. In this study, we present a case of leucism in a wild owl. The studied individual presented completely white plumage, light-yellow coloration of legs and bill and normal coloration of eyes. According to morphological features, this owl is a specimen of burrowing owl, Athene cunicularia (Molina, 1782). To confirm the species identity, we used cytogenetic analyses for karyotypic determination, comparing it to the previously described one in the literature. We also studied a captive female of A. cunicularia to complement the species karyotype, which was described in the literature based only on a single male. The karyotype of the leucistic owl individual was compatible with the previously published one for A. cunicularia, confirming the bird was a male specimen. Cytogenetic analysis of the captive female showed that the W sex chromosome is metacentric and comparable to the seventh pair in size. This is the first description of a case of leucism in A. cunicularia for South America. Long-term studies are needed in the Neotropical region to evaluate survival and breeding success in leucistic birds.

Distinct DNA Methylation Activity of Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b towards Naked and Nucleosomal DNA

In mammals, the resetting of DNA methylation patterns in early embryos and germ cells is crucial for development. De novo type DNA methyltransferases Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b are responsible for creating DNA methylation patterns during embryogenesis and in germ cells. Although their in vitro DNA methylation properties are similar, Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b methylate different genomic DNA regions in vivo. In the present study, we have examined the DNA methylation activity of Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b towards nucleosomes reconstituted from recombinant histones and DNAs, and compared it to that of the corresponding naked DNAs. Dnmt3a showed higher DNA methylation activity than Dnmt3b towards naked DNA and the naked part of nucleosomal DNA. On the other hand, Dnmt3a scarcely methylated the DNA within the nucleosome core region, while Dnmt3b significantly did, although the activity was low. We propose that the preferential DNA methylation activity of Dnmt3a towards the naked part of nucleosomal DNA and the significant methylation activity of Dnmt3b towards the nucleosome core region contribute to their distinct methylation of genomic DNA in vivo.

Mucin coating on polymeric material surfaces to suppress bacterial adhesion

Mucin, a group of large glycoproteins, constitutes one of the major components of mucous which covers the lumenal surfaces of epithelial organs and serves as a physical barrier between the extracellular milieu and the plasma membrane. The molecules have a generic structure consisting of a thread-like peptide backbone with densely packed carbohydrate side chains. Protein and carbohydrate contents are about 30 and 50%, respectively. On hydrophobic materials in aqueous environments the naked parts of mucin’s protein backbone will adhere due to their hydrophobicity, while the carbohydrate side chains are thought to orient themselves away from the surface. This gives the mucin molecules their unique properties as surfactants, i.e. they tend to adsorb to hydrophobic surfaces via protein-surface interactions while they hold water molecules via their hydrophilic oligosaccharide clusters. In the present work, bovine submaxillary gland mucin (BSM) is purified by SEC and subsequently characterized with PAGE. Four polymeric materials, PMMA, silicone, Tecoflex® polyurethane and polystyrene, are selected as coating targets. Contact angle measurements show significant changes in these materials after coating with BSM. Surface concentrations of adsorbed BSM are determined by amino acid analysis and found to correlate well with observed reductions in contact angle. Both Staphylococcus aureus and CNS S. epidermidis are used to contaminate uncoated and BSM coated surfaces of all four materials, demonstrating a correlation between suppression of bacterial adhesion and surface concentration of BSM. Thus, bacterial counts on the coated PMMA, PS, PU and silicone specimens amount to ≈3, 10, 8 and 30% of the counts found on their uncoated counterparts. These results suggest that mucin coatings could profitably be employed to reduce the risk of microbial infections on polymeric biomaterials.

Region, Reveries, and Reverence

Region, Reveries, and Reverence P a u l F. S ta rrs University of Nevada What do people make of places? The question is as old as people and places themselves, as old as human attachments to portions of the earth. As old, perhaps, as the idea of home, of “our territory” as opposed to “their territory,” of entire regions and local landscapes where groups of men and women have invested themselves (their thoughts, their values, their collective sensibilities) and to which they feel they belong. The question is as old as a strong sense of place—and the answer, if there is one, is every bit as complex (Basso 1996, p. xiii). For it is still the case that no one lives in the world in general. Everybody, even the exiled, the drifting, the diasporic, or the perpetually moving, lives in some confined and limited stretch of it— “the world around here”... The banalities and distractions of the way we live now lead us, often enough, to lose sight of how much it mattersjust where we are and what it is like to be there. The ethnography of place is, if anything, more critical for those who are apt to imagine that all places are alike than for those who, listening to forest or experiencing stones, know better (Geertz 1996, p. 262). T h e REGION. To see a place made up of stories, with every slice and segment a deliberate expression of the diverse people who live there, all tinged and tinctured with difference, yet collectively con­ stituting a kind of community, is to understand that our world, drawn at whatever scale, has unending building blocks of regional parts. Regions provide our problems and questions, tasking geographers with becoming place experts, and commanding us to make compari­ sons that illuminate the novel and the commonplace lifeways of a spot, big or little, on the earth. Now, some of a region’s parts are great, others small. It falls to geographers to bear witness and map and theorize, making larger sense of a region. That is what we do, though always with varying levels of skill and sensitivity. Historians analyze events, geographers 194 APCG YEARBOOK • VOLUME 61 • 1999 places. And so a complex winnowing is simply the foremost of geography’s glittering gifts. Proof is not in the primary material of raw observation, but in making sense and forming pattern. Divagat­ ing elements can rust in the front yard, no better than naked parts. Or bits and pieces can be bound and secured by the rawhide of narra­ tive, wit, analysis, and grace—think, for instance, of the fabulous boxes of Joseph Cornell, who was a master of what is dubbed “as­ semblage” (Solman 1997). Geographers in their best work are akin to the bricoleurs of Claude Lévi-Strauss (the tinkers, or handymen, or native thinkers of The Savage Mind), and our art is a kind of bricolage, a supremely ac­ complished tinkering and telling (Turkle and Papert 1990). For regional geographers, knowledge is concrete and contextual— as bricoleurs it is up to us to marshal a “set of techniques from which they pick and choose the appropriate ‘tool’ to be used in the situation at hand” (Rathbun, Saito, and Goodrum 1997; Schneider 1999, p. 1). After all, the tinker was known as much for spreading information, drawing connections, and bridging communities with news and no­ tice as for trading in any single good or making any actual repair. Of course, that is where more than a few regional treatments fall woe­ fully apart: in their lineaments and ligaments; in the telling. It also happens to be where many nongeographers have proved themselves masterful regional essayists. They write convincingly about places and variations. “It is still the case,” Clifford Geertz reminds us— an anthropologist of the sense of place— “that no one lives in the world in general” (Geertz 1996, p. 262). We know that. Or do we? Commencements Of late I’ve been reading and writing a lot about Spain, and along those lines I have had to think a good deal about who does Spain well. Instantly there come to mind Jan (née James) Morris...

Pseudopetalophthalmus japonicus, New Genus, New Species (Mysidacea: Petalophthalmidae)

A new genus, Pseudopetalophthalmus, is established for P. japonicus, new species, collected from Japanese waters. Pseudopetalophthalmus is closely related to the genus Petalophthalmus, but distinguished from it by the rostrum lacking an acute process, the antennal scale armed with a single spine at the distal end of the naked part of the outer margin, the mandibular palp with the third segment 0.25 as long as the second segment and bearing 7 spines, the maxilla with a short exopod and an expanded distal lobe, and the telson with a truncate apex with spines arranged in definite series of 9 groups. The generic diagnosis of Petalophthalmus is amended to include Petalophthalmus australis. The genus Petalophthalmus was established by Willemoes-Suhm in 1875 for male specimens of P. armiger, collected in the tropical mid-Atlantic during the Challenger Expedition. The genus is easily recognizable by the powerful, long, prehensile mandibular palp, and the leaflike form of the eye, without visual elements (Tattersall, 1968). Later, Illig (1906) described a second species of the genus, P. oculatus, with well-developed eyes. With the establishment of P. caribbeanus by 0. S. Tattersall (1968), the initial diagnosis of the genus was completed. Finally, Panampunnayil (1982) revised the definition of Petalophthalmus for the reception of his new species, P. australis, based on: (1) the broad antennal scale with straight naked outer margin; (2) the shorter terminal segment of the mandibular palp, with only seven spines; (3) the considerably expanded lobe of the third segment of the maxilla; and (4) the telson with a small number of lateral spines, and the truncate apex with spines arranged in a definite series. The most recent species, P. macrops, was described by Tchindonova and Vereschchaka in 1991. A comparison of the five known species of Petalophthalmus with the material in the present work permits us to reestablish the diagnosis of the genus previous to the description of P. australis, and to establish a new genus and new species, Pseudopetalophthalmusjaponicus. The type specimens are deposited in the National Science Museum, Tokyo (NSMT), Japan.

Electron microscopic investigations on the growing tip of nerve fibres in the developing distal forelimb of the mouse.

The distal course of the sensory nerve fibres on the palmar side of the hand of 12-day-old mouse embryos was followed by serial ultrathin cross-sections of conventionally fixed tissue. Small nerves fibres are to be found in the space between the layer of the cutaneous blood vessels and the epidermis. A special arrangement of the tissue which is traversed by the nerve fibres is not visible. In most cases the nerve fibres are in intimate contact with fibroblasts. More distally the nerve fibres consist only of one axon encircled by a Schwann cell. The sheath of the Schwann cell decreases gradually, and finally disappears completely. The distal tips of the naked axons are a few microns ahead. In some cases they are considerably enlarged and contain only a fine fuzzy material without special cell organelles. Other axons may end in a more finger-like fashion, and contain also in the naked parts many cell organelles. Also the naked axons contact fibroblasts over long ranges. Collagen was not found aligned to the distal nerve fibres.

Soil respiration in the vicinity of Syowa Station, Antarctica 2. Estimation of carbon dioxide amount evolved from the naked part of West Ongul Island

Soil respiration in the vicinity of Syowa Station, Antarctica 2. Estimation of carbon dioxide amount evolved from the naked part of West Ongul Island

Thermal sensitivity of different skin areas in pigeons

Pigeons lightly anaesthetized with urethane regulate their body temperature at a hypothermic level. During recovery from anaesthesia there is a continuous shivering at an ambient temperature of about 22 °C. The effect of thermal stimulation (radiant heat) of different skin areas on this ongoing shivering (EMG of the breast muscle) was taken as a measure of the thermal sensitivity of the skin area under study. Feathered skin areas, which were plucked before stimulation, turned out to be very sensitive with regard to the thermoregulatory effector mechanism of shivering. Moderate heating of the most sensitive skin of the back often resulted in cessation of shivering. Similar feathered skin areas on back, wing, and breast showed that there was a decreasing sensitivity in that order they are mentioned. Graded stimulation was followed by a graded response and there was an interaction between different skin areas. Heating the beak caused only a small reduction of shivering. There was no effect at all during heating or cooling naked parts of the feet even during painful thermal stimulation which was often followed by retraction of the whole leg.

ピアノの銅巻絃の振動

The vibration of a wrapped string has theoretically been treated as an ideal string with a uniform linear density, neglecting its naked parts at both ends of an actual piano string. This paper shows that (1) the inharmonicity of the vibration of the actual piano string is larger than that of the ideal string and (2) the increase of the inharmonicity (Δan) due to the naked parts is calculated by the following formula;Δan=1731 (ean-ea1), whereean=2/3n2π2 (1-ρ1/ρ2) (a/l) 31+2/5 (1+ρ1/ρ2) (nπa/l) 2/1+ (nπa/l) 2n; the number of the order of harmonicsl; the total length of the piano stringa; the length of each naked partsρ1; the linear density of the naked partsρ2; the linear density of the wrapped part

The skin of the sheep: a comparison of body regions.

Light-microscope studies reveal distinctive features in the hair- and woolgrowing skin of adult sheep. The epidermis is variable in thickness-usually thin on wool-growing regions and thicker on haired regions. The follicles are mostly in groups containing one, two, or three primary (P) follicles and a number of secondary (S) follicles. The SIP follicle ratios vary from zero to about 30, depending on the breed and body region. The capillaries, myoepithelium of sweat glands, and dermal papillae of the follicles are often reactive for alkaline phosphatase. This enzyme is also asymmetrically distributed in some follicle bulbs and here it might be related in some way to the segmentation of the fibre cortex and perhaps to the formation of crimped wool. The dermal and follicle nerve networks contain cholinesterases. The latter may also contain alkaline phosphatase. Encapsulated end-organs and tactile disks are occasionally present in both hair- and wool-growing skin. Melanocytes, most common near the dermo-epidermal junction, may also be present in the outer root sheaths of the follicles, sebaceous glands, sweat glands, and dermis. Acetylcholinesterase-positive branched cells are invariably present in the epidermis in all regions where there are follicles. Sebaceous glands are associated with all follicles and apocrine sweat glands with the P follicles only. The P follicles also possess erector muscles that react for cholinesterases. Both the subaceous glands and sweat glands are usually larger in haired regions than in wool-growing regions. Large "eccrine" glands open on the naked part of the muzzle.

The West Indian Black Forms of the Genus Cœreba

AMONG the West Indian members of the genus Ca?,reba are two peculiar forms, one known as Cwereba atrata (Lawr.) from the island of St. Vincent, and the other, C. wellsi (Cory), from the island of Grenada, which are entirely black. MIr. Ridgway has suggested (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. VIII, 1885, p. 28) that these may prove to be merely phases of plumage of the normally colored birds inhabiting the same islands, and I shall in the present paper advance reasons for this supposition. In the genus Careba, all the species are (except in these two cases) dark above, with a light superciliary stripe, and yellow, or yellow and white, below. Mlost of them have a yellow or yellowish patch on the rump, and all have the bases of the primaries (forming a wing spot) and the tips of the outer rectrices white. It is evident then, that the genus has a definite and well marked color-pattern. In the black forms there is an olive tinge on the underparts (except the throat) and rump, corresponding to the yellow markings of the normally colored birds inhabiting the same islands. The black forms are of the same color from the first appearance of feathers, and not of more normal coloration in the younger stages as we might expect were these forms simply species widely divergent from the generic type. The black birds are identical in size, coloration of naked parts, actions, notes, and nesting habits with the normal birds of the same islands. In the case of Ccereba wellsi the eggs are exactly alike.1 In the genus Caereba no two species are known to inhabit the same locality. In certain mammals (for example, Canis occidentalis Rich., Vulpes fulvus Desm., and Sciurus carolinensis Gmel.) melanistic